Will not accept moving Asia Cup to accommodate IPL: PCB CEO

Lahore, April 24:  Pakistan Cricket Board CEO Wasim Khan has made it clear that the PCB will not accept any change in the Asia Cup schedule in order to accommodate the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which currently remains suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic.

He also said that the board is hoping to hold the Asia Cup T20 tournament in the UAE as per schedule in September unless there are changes to be made because of issues related to the coronavirus outbreak which has brought the entire world to a standstill.

"Our stance is absolutely clear, the Asia Cup is set for September and the only reason it should not take place is continued health safety issues. We will not accept that the Asia Cup is moved to accommodate the IPL," Khan said on GTV News Channel.

"I have heard that there is talk to move the Asia Cup to November-December but for us that is not possible. If you move the Asia Cup, you are making way for one member nation and that is not right and it will not have our support," he added.

The 2020 IPL's initial start date was first pushed back from March 29 to April 15 before it was postponed indefinitely as the nation-wide lockdown got extended until May 3.

BCCI is now looking at the two options of having an IPL this year. They are looking to organise the event in September and early October before the T20 World Cup in Australia or hosting it at the expense of the T20 World Cup if the ICC, Cricket Australia and other stakeholders are all in agreement.

Khan further said that at Thursday's ICC Chief Executives virtual meeting, the BCCI representative did not raise the IPL window issue.

Khan, who represented PCB at the meet, said Cricket Australia informed other boards that it was exploring all options but no decision was taken on moving the T20 World Cup -- currently scheduled to be played in Australia in October-November -- to another date or to another country.

"The T20 World Cup might be played behind closed doors because if we don't play T20 World Cup each board potentially stands to lose between 15 and 20 million dollars," said the PCB CEO.